GNOSIS is a research initiative taken by the University of Aarhus regarding the study of mind and thinking from a philosophical and pedagogical perspective. It is cross-faculty initiative which aims to participate in and supplement the ongoing production and dissemination of scientific knowledge concerning the mind and thinking by introducing a critical perspective and focusing on consequences and perspectives for philosophy and pedagogy, as well as for ethical, social and political reflection.

 

 Background

The ambition of the University of Aarhus is to be positioned at the “cutting edge” of new horizons in the fields of research. Hence, having followed a doctoral education as researcher at the University of Aarhus, successful candidates should be cultivated and prepared as intellectuals, which implies the ability to transgress disciplinary boundaries, to synthesize various perspectives, and to acquire novel insights and cultivate general intellectual capabilities. It also entails the establishment of a kind of self-reflection, i.e. a meta-reflection on the conditions of cognition and on the ethical, social and political consequences of knowledge production.  The vision is that scientific personnel graduating from the University of Aarhus shall be distinguished by an element of scientific spirit that enables the university to earn the reputation as ‘A University of thoughtfulness.’

The GNOSIS research center is intended to foster this ambition by providing a place where different intellectual profiles meet different questions, and by serving as an observatory and laboratory for new ideas concerning educational matters.